Many geographic locations have insufficient rainfall or dry spells that require turf and landscaping to be watered to maintain the proper health of the vegetation. Turf and landscaping are often watered utilizing an automatic irrigation system that includes a programmable controller that turns a plurality of valves ON and OFF to supply water through underground PVC pipes connected to sprinklers. Golf courses, playing fields and other large areas typically require rotor-type sprinklers that eject a long stream of water via a nozzle that oscillates through an adjustable arc. Smaller areas are often watered with rotary stream sprinklers and spray heads. In some cases drip nozzles are employed in residential and commercial irrigation systems for watering trees and shrubs, for example.
Rotor-type sprinklers and rotary stream sprinklers often incorporate a turbine and gear train reduction for slowly rotating the nozzle or nozzle head. The turbine is located at the bottom of the sprinkler, below the gear box that holds the gear train reduction, and above the stator where one is employed. While this configuration has proven successful, it has certain limitations that the irrigation industry has so far overlooked and/or failed to adequately address.